Weekly Tip:

Still time to EGG YOUR PEEPS this week and invite them to our Easter Weekend services.

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Sermon Title: Humanity Hardwired, Part 8: Wired for Marriage

Main Text: Genesis 2:15, 18-24

Topics:

God put the man in the Garden to work and keep it

The Hebrew word used for work here means to prepare and tend. So man was put in the Garden to prepare and tend it.

It also says that he was to “keep” the garden. Since this comes before the fall, work was not a punishment at this point. The Hebrew word for “keep” means to guard and care. So man was not only a tender of the garden, he was the protector of it

We will see this role carry forward as God creates Eve

God sees the need for a helper fit for him

For the first time, God says that something is “not good”

God brought him every beast of the field and bird of the heavens to see what he would call them but none of them were suitable to be his mate - none of these are “fit” for the man

The man names all of the animals which demonstrates his authority over them.

God is looking to create a helper for him, the word that he sues to describe helper denotes someone that complements the man. Not necessarily stronger or weaker, but someone who matches him. Important to note that this does not mean “like” him. A wife is not her husband’s clone, she complements him.

If God wanted to provide a clone he would have scooped up another pile of dust and created another Adam

Instead God forms woman from the flesh of the man

Adam expresses his excitement in verse 23

The fact that Eve was created from Adam’s flesh also denotes the closeness of the marriage relationship

He then specifically states that that bond is even more important that the parental bond in Verse 24

True focus of marriage

So if marriage is the culmination of God’s perfect plan and his desire is for us to become more like him, that means that God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy

That means God did not design marriage to be easy

That means God did not design marriage for our own fulfillment

That means God did not design marriage to be comfortable

Key Questions:

HIGH/LOW: What was the high and low point of your week?

Prayer Requests : ( when you choose during your group )

Icebreaker: Pastor Matt described their perfectly planned wedding that didn’t go so perfectly. What was one of your “perfect” plans, and what went awry?

READ: Genesis 2:15, 18-24

What would marriage look like if God had created Eve with the exact same characteristics and skills as Adam?

How do these unique characteristics serve to complement the spouse? What are ways we could allow these differences to be a hindrance in a marriage?

Read Matthew Henry’s quote again…."That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved." What is your biggest take from this statement?

What does it look like for a marriage to be focused on becoming Mathetes, rather than our own personal fulfillment and happiness?

What specific things become unimportant if our sole purpose in marriage is to become Mathetes?

We heard the story of the two brothers who one night met halfway between their two granaries. What are some specific ways we can “meet halfway between our granaries?”

Part of being AWESTRUCK is learning to pray and read God’s word together. Do you find this awkward or rather easy? What are some specific things you do as a couple in this area?

Which aspect of this topic do you need to address, to refocus your marriage towards God’s intended purpose?